TD Asset Management Inc Buys 3,972 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 394,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,972 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc’s holdings in CME Group were worth $107,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of CME Group by 103.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 121,707 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 1,325.2% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,497,000 after purchasing an additional 21,918 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 287,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,344,000 after acquiring an additional 7,397 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on CME shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on CME Group in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 44,044 shares of company stock worth $13,297,507. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ CME opened at $256.06 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $244.56 and a 12 month high of $329.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $289.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.79 billion, a PE ratio of 21.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.21.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.